Canadian Salon Uses Domestic Violence to Advertise

Salon Uses Domestic Violence Imagery to Advertise

Up in the Great White North, an ad campaign for an Edmonton salon is stirring up controversy. The above advertisement for Fluid Salon, part of its "Look Good in All You Do" campaign, depicts a battered woman and an American Psycho-style man holding a sparkling necklace. Sure, she might have a black eye, but at least her hair is styled! Ugh. After Copyranter called out the ad for its domestic violence theme, a flurry of criticism followed.

The salon's response? Get over it, basically, and stop picking on us. It's art, Fluid creative consultant Tiffany Johnson writes, adding that boycotting the salon won't stop domestic violence. It's a non sequitur, though; nobody's saying that domestic violence will end if people stop going to Fluid. Instead, critics argue that using a "hot battered woman" (the salon owner's words) makes light of the partner violence faced by one in four women. Sure, Fluid has the right to advertise any way it wants, but people have just as much right to comment on it — and judging by the uproar, Fluid is finding this out the hard way.

Your way of putting it just sounds like a politer way of saying it xD
I think once you explain to someone how they screwed up and why they were hurtful, and they insist on defending it instead of owning up to it, they ARE clinging to callousness and insensitivity. Once they're made aware of how hurtful those words/actions are, there's no excuse for continuing to say/do the same things. At that point I no longer consider their intentions good, because they're more interested in not being called racist/sexist/etc. than not BEING that.

@Dyani I don't think it's necessarily that people are trying to cling to those things. I think it's about empathy and respect, and the ability to not just put oneself in another's shoes... but also to be open to the idea that even if an action doesn't have bad intentions, it can still be hurtful or inappropriate.

I have no idea who's praising or defending the ad, but I do think people who don't "see" the violence in it are in denial.
@Dyani, that excuse never gets old, does it? It turns the argument into a "yes you are/no I'm not" thing, which distracts attention from the actual argument at hand.

My gut feeling tells me the ones that are praising this ad are alpha male types of men. The tagline in this ad "look good in all you do" will not work if the picture is a successful executive female. Is an ideal woman supposed to be submissive? Even for the shock factor which often wins in the advertising world, this ad has crossed the line.

I read a lot of comments online from people insisting that this wasn't a domestic violence scene, and that anyone who sees is that way is "reading into it." Riiiiiight. I have no idea what people were thinking with this campaign — they probably thought it was clever and edgy — but it seems to me that the people behind it have little empathy for or understanding of the many women trapped in abusive relationships. It just isn't a good way to promote your business or attract customers at all.

I wonder if this creative consultant and anyone else involved in this campaign have somehow deluded themselves into thinking that this somehow empowers women. What I get from it is, "Stand by your man and look good for him in all he does... Because it will get you jewelry." It's upsetting that anyone in modern society would think that this was a good idea, and then publicly stand behind it on the flimsy pretext that it's "art." What were they thinking?! (I seriously cannot stop saying that to myself.)

No, domestic violence won't go away if the advertisement goes away. However, making light of such a horrifying thing as domestic violence isn't the right thing either. They could donate part of their profits to domestic violence shelters, women's shelters or education and prevention of domestic violence in response instead of such a childish response. Domestic violence is a huge issue and one that touches my heart because my mom grew up in that kind of home. Most of these women try numerous times to escape the situation! Making fun of it or making a "hot battered woman" isn't right and sends the absolute wrong message. I'm glad that America is sensitive enough now to know this sort of message is downright WRONG.